MAT040

Lesson 7 : Work Done by Varying Force and

Force Due to Fluid Pressure

7B: Force due to Fluid Pressure

MA. CRISTINA DUYAGUIT
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, CSM
Force due to Fluid Pressure
A diver realizes pretty soon that water pressure increases as he
or she dives deeper in a deep sea. The reason is simple. The weight of
the water above him or her increases as the depth increases.
Now suppose that a thin horizontal plate with area square units
is submerged horizontally in a fluid of density (rho) at a depth units
below the surface of the fluid. The fluid directly above the plate has
volume so its mass is . The magnitude of the force exerted by the fluid
on the plate is therefore , where is the magnitude of the acceleration due
to gravity. The pressure on the plate is defined to be
.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
The SI unit for measuring pressure is Newton per square meter .
It is well-known (experimentally verified) that the fluid pressure at any
point in a liquid is the same in all directions (and thus, any diver would
feel the same pressure on both ears and nose). From this, it follows that
the pressure in any direction at a depth in a fluid with mass density is
given by
.
Therefore, the force exerted by the liquid (the force due to liquid
pressure) on the plate is
.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Theorem 7.1: Suppose is the region bounded by the -axis, the lines
and , and the curve , where is continuous and on . Let be the line lying
along the surface of the liquid (or fluid). Then the force exerted by the
liquid (force due to liquid pressure) on is given by

Proof: Let be a partition of along the -axis. For each choose such that .
Consider the ith (horizontal) rectangular strip corresponding to the th
interval having length and width equal to units and units, respectively.
(See Figure 7.9)

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Note that this ith rectangle of area can be treated as a plate submerged
in the liquid at a depth units below the surface of the liquid. Thus, the
force exerted by liquid on the ith rectangular element is approximately

Note:
is the line lying along the surface
of the liquid (or fluid)

Figure 7.9

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Therefore, since and are continuous on , the force exerted by liquid on
the region is

• corresponds to the length of the

. strip
• corresponds to the width of the
strip
• plate/region submerged in the
liquid at a depth below the
The technique used to obtain the formula above can be
surface of the liquid

employed to determine the force exerted by a liquid on a plate or wall or a

side or face of a dam.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Example 7.8: A square plate of side is submerged vertically in a tank of
water. Find the force due to liquid pressure if
the center of the plate is below the surface of the water; and
the center of the plate is below the surface of the water.
Solution. We place the square on the coordinate axes so one of its sides
lies along the -axis (see Figure 7.10).

Figure 7.10
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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Let be a partition of along the -axis. For each , choose such that . Consider
the ith (horizontal) rectangular strip corresponding to the th interval . Then the
area of the ith rectangle is and its distance from the surface of the water is
approximately Thus, the force exerted by the liquid on this ith rectangular
element is approximately . Therefore the force exerted by the liquid on the
square plate is

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Again, we place the square on the coordinate exes so one of its sides
lies along the -axis (see Figure 7.11). Since the center of the plate is
below the surface of the water, it follows that the surface of water
coincides with the line . Hence, we only consider the part or portion of the
plate on the interval .

Figure 7.11
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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Let be a partition of along the -axis. For each , choose such that . Consider
the ith (horizontal) rectangular strip corresponding to the th interval . Then the
area of the ith rectangle is and its distance from the surface of the water is
approximately Thus, the force exerted by the liquid on this ith rectangular
element is approximately . Therefore the force exerted by the liquid on the
square plate is

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Example 7.9: A face (vertical) of a dam is in a shape of a trapezoid. The
height is and the width is at the top and at the bottom. Find the force on
the dam due to a liquid pressure if the surface of the water is below the
top of the dam.

Solution. We place the face of the dam on the coordinate axes so that its
bottom lies along the -axis (see Figure 7.12).

To get this,
use two-point
form of an
equation of a
(15 , 0) line
Figure 7.12
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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Since the surface of the water coincides with the line , we consider the
closed interval . Now, the equation of the line passing through the points
and is . Let and consider the region bounded by , , and the lines and
( is actually the smaller trapezoid in the figure). Let be a partition of
along the -axis. For each , choose such that . Consider the ith
(horizontal) rectangular strip corresponding to the th interval having the
length and width equal to and , respectively. Then the area of the ith
rectangle is

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Its distance from the surface of the water is approximately units. Thus,
the force exerted by the liquid on this ith rectangular element is
approximately N. therefore, the force exerted by the liquid on the face of
the dam is

N.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Example 7.10: A trough full of water has ends which are parabolic in form.
The end of the trough is wide at the top, and deep. Find the force on
one end on the trough.

Solution. We place the parabola in the coordinate axes so that its vertex
is at the point of origin (see Figure 7.13). The standard form of the
parabola is . Since is a point of this parabola, , that is, . This implies that
the equation of the parabola is .
Let . Then an end of the trough is actually the region bounded by the
parabola and the line .

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Force due to Fluid Pressure

Figure 7.13

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Let be a partition of along the -axis. For each , choose such that .
Consider the ith (horizontal) rectangular strip corresponding to the th
interval having the length and width equal to and , respectively. Then
the area of the ith rectangle is and its distance from the surface of the
water is approximately units. Thus, the force exerted by the liquid on this
ith rectangular element is approximately . Therefore, the force exerted by
the liquid on an end of the trough is

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
.

Example 7.11: The ends of a trough are vertical semicircular regions,

each with a radius of Find the force caused by water pressure on one
end if the trough is full of water.

Solution. We place the semi-circle in the coordinate axes so that its

center is at the point (see Figure 7.14). The equation of the semi-circle in
the first quadrant is .

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Force due to Fluid Pressure

Figure 7.14

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Let be a partition of along the -axis. For each , choose such that .
Consider the ith (horizontal) rectangular strip corresponding to the th
interval having the length and width equal to and , respectively. Then
the area of the ith rectangle is and its distance from the surface of the
water is approximately . Thus, the force exerted by the liquid on this ith
rectangular element is approximately . Therefore, the force exerted by the
liquid on an end of the trough is
.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Now let . Then . It follows that . Thus
.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure
Exercises 7.2
1. A square plate on a side is submerged vertically with upper edge
lying below the surface of the water of weight density . Find the force
due to liquid pressure on one side of the square.
2. A tank whose ends are isosceles right triangle region with each wide
across the top and high. Find the force due to liquid pressure if it is
full of liquid.
3. A trough with cross section is in the shape of semi-circular regions of
radius Find the force due to liquid pressure on one end of the trough
if it is full of water.

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Force due to Fluid Pressure

4. A plate in the shape of a trapezoid with wide at the top and wide at the
bottom and deep is submerged vertically with top deep above the
surface of the liquid, find the force due to liquid pressure.

5. A trough has ends in the form of an equilateral triangle of side feet with
the base on top. Find the force due to liquid pressure on one end of the
trough if it is filled with water of its depth.

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References:

· Canoy, Sergio, Jr., et al. A First Course in Analytic Geometry and Calculus. Revised Edition.
Department of Mathematics, MSU-IIT. 2010.

· Leithold, I. (1996). The Calculus 7. HarpenCollins College Publishing.

· Leithold, Louis. The Calculus with Analytic Geometry, 7th edition, 1995.

· Mendelson, Elliott. 3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus. Mc-Graw Hill, 1988.

· Protter, M &Protter, P. (1988). Calculus with Analytical Geometry. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publisher.

· Protter, Murray H. and Morrey, Charles B. Calculus with Analytic Geometry. Addison-Wesley
Educational Publishers Inc., 1971.

· Purcell, E. & Patterson, R. (1978). Calculus with Analytic Geometry. Prentice-Hall.